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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
On the cross, Jesus cried out, \u201cMy God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?\u201d<\/p>\n
From this single sentence, many bible teachers and pastors have theorized that it was in this moment that the Father looked away from Jesus \u2013 because of all of our sins being laid upon Jesus \u2013 and it was in this moment that Jesus experienced separation from the Father for the only time in all of eternity.<\/p>\n
As dramatic and poetically compelling that might be, the truth is simply this: The Bible nowhere supports this theory.<\/p>\n
So, where does it come from?<\/p>\n
Well, apparently the teaching that the Father actually did forsake Jesus on the cross, and that Jesus experienced separation from the Father comes from a few assumptions:<\/p>\n
First, the assumption that God is too holy to look upon sin.<\/p>\n
Second, the assumption that Jesus\u2019 cry from the cross at that moment was meant to communicate that His Father did actually forsake him.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take these two assumptions one at a time and see if they are true.<\/p>\n
Is God really too holy to look upon sin? Not according to the scriptures.<\/p>\n
Instead, we see all throughout the Bible that God does indeed look at mankind. We see that God\u2019s eyes move to and fro over all the earth, searching the hearts and minds of His people. [See 2 Chron.16:9; Job 31:4; Jerem. 16:17; Zech. 4:10; etc.]\n<\/p>
\u201cAnd\u00a0<\/span>there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are\u00a0<\/span>open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.\u201d \u2013 [Heb. 4:13]<\/em><\/p>\n Q: What would happen if God wasn\u2019t able to look at sin?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A: It would mean that looking at us would be pointless because all He could ever see was a world full of sinful people [which is everyone].<\/p>\n The doctrine that God is too holy to look upon sin is actually based on one single verse of scripture in the Old Testament that says:<\/p>\n \u201cYour eyes are too pure<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to look on evil;<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.<\/span>\u201d \u00a0[Habbukuk 1:13]<\/em><\/p>\n But if you keep reading that chapter what you\u2019ll notice is that Habbukuk wraps up that statement by asking: \u201cSo, why do you?\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, the question is asked assumptively, but then the question itself is cast into doubt as the prophet observes that God does indeed look on evil after all.<\/p>\n Another verse that is often used to support this idea that God is too holy to look upon our sins is found in Isaiah where we read:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut your iniquities have separated<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>you from your God;<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>your sins have hidden his face from you,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>so that he will not hear.<\/span>\u201d [Isaiah 59:2]<\/em><\/p>\n But if we keep reading [a good idea as you can see], we read:<\/p>\n \u201cThe<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Lord<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>looked and was displeased<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that there was no justice.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>He saw that there was no one,<\/span><\/em> \u201c<\/span>As for me, this is my covenant\u00a0with them,\u201d says the\u00a0<\/span>Lord<\/span>. \u201cMy Spirit,who is on you, will not depart from you\u2026\u201d [v.21]<\/em><\/p>\n So, here, in the very same chapter, we read that God DOES look, and that He DOES see our sins, and that \u201c[His] Spirit\u2026will not depart\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, let\u2019s look at Jesus. He was the \u201cexact representation of the Father\u201d and he was the only one who had ever seen God and who came to reveal the Father to us.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What do we notice about Jesus? Does He, as God in the flesh, avert his gaze when surrounded by sinners? Hardly! Instead, those sinners are his closest friends. He spends so much time with them that the religious elite [who, by the way, were too holy to spend time with sinners], criticized him for it.<\/span><\/p>\n So, is God really \u201ctoo holy to look on our sin\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n Absolutely not!<\/span><\/p>\n Second: When Jesus says, \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d doesn\u2019t that mean that His Father really did forsake Him?<\/span><\/p>\n No.<\/span><\/p>\n This statement from Jesus was a quote from Psalm 22 which begins:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Why are you so far<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from saving me,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>so far from my cries of anguish?<\/span>\u201d [v.1]<\/em><\/p>\n But, this is a Messianic Psalm. In this Psalm we also read prophetic statements like:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c\u2026they pierce\u00a0my hands and my feet.<\/span>\u201d [v. 16]<\/em><\/p>\n \u201c\u2026They divide my clothes among them<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and cast lots<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for my garment.<\/span>\u201d [v.18]<\/em><\/p>\n Perhaps Jesus is quoting this Psalm because he hopes to point out how these exact words are being fulfilled in their midst?<\/p>\n Note also what this same Psalm has to say about what God is doing:<\/p>\n \u201cFor he has not despised<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>or scorned<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the suffering of the afflicted one;<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>he has not hidden his face<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from him<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>but has listened to his cry for help.<\/span>\u201d [v.24]<\/em><\/p>\n Wait\u2026what?<\/p>\n The Psalmist says that they will pierce the hands and the feet of the Messiah, and that they will divide his clothes and cast lots for his garments\u2026and that God \u201cwill not hide His face from him\u201d.<\/p>\n So\u2026once more I need to ask: \u201cDid the Father turn His face away from Jesus when He was on the cross?\u201d<\/p>\n No. Not even once.<\/p>\n Finally, notice that Jesus affirms that His Father will never abandon Him:<\/p>\n \u201cJesus replied. \u201cA time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone.\u00a0<\/span>Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span>I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.\u201d [John 16:31-33]<\/em><\/p>\n Notice that Jesus not only affirms that His Father will not leave him [even though the disciples will], but that this abandonment by the disciples and the ever-present nature of the Father occurs at the same time: While Jesus is hanging on the cross!<\/p>\n This really should not surprise us.<\/p>\n God promises all through the scriptures that He will never leave us or forsake us.<\/p>\n Jesus reminds us that He will be with us always, even unto the end of the age.<\/p>\n [See Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5; Deut. 31:6, Isaiah 41:10, etc.]\n<\/p>
\nhe was appalled that there was no one to intervene;<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>so his own arm achieved salvation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for him,<\/span><\/em>
\nand his own righteousness<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>sustained him.\u201d [v.16]<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n